Day\u2019Ron Sharpe spoke to the media for the first time since tearing an ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. He has not played since March 9th and will miss the rest of the Brooklyn Nets\u2019 season \u2014 their last 18 games in total.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought this season was another year of me showing growth, so I\u2019m just trying to build off that and continue to show growth,\u201d said Sharpe.<\/p>\n
He might be understating it. Playing 62 games, he posted a career-high in FG%, as well as minutes\/points\/rebounds\/assists per game in his fifth year in the league But a quick glance at his box-scores likely undersells it \u2014 Day\u2019Ron has morphed into one of the most impactful reserves in the NBA, noticeable in the games where he gets big minutes\u2026<\/p>\n
Advanced metrics (a 77th percentile EPM<\/a> this season, top-60 marks<\/a> in DARKO, LEBRON, multi-year RAPM) are screaming out that Day\u2019Ron Sharpe is, like MPJ stated, an impact starter hiding in plain sight. This is largely because Sharpe helps the Nets dominate the possession game: We know he is one of the league\u2019s very best offensive rebounders, but with career-best defensive rebounding numbers and an absurd 3% steal rate, Sharpe\u2019s defensive impact has skyrocketed.<\/p>\n Sharpe also cleaned up one of his biggest bug-a-boos in 2025-26: finishing around the rim. After four seasons of low 60s percentages in the restricted area, Sharpe made 72% of those looks this season, per Cleaning the Glass. We may expect some future regression to the mean, but for now, that is a massive improvement for the 24-year-old, placing him among the likes of Jalen Duren and Ivica Zubac (and for now, ahead of Nic Claxton).<\/p>\n He has credited much of his improvement to working with Assistant Coach Juwan Howard, who has been on Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s staff for the last two years: \u201cThe fact that he played in the paint so, he has just a good knowledge of the area, and I think he\u2019s helping me, trying to develop my game that way, giving me pointers over the last couple seasons. I try to ask him a lot of questions all the time whenever I get a chance. Always trying to pick his brain about anything.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the summer, Sharpe says he is focused on continuing to improve his body \u2014 with regard to both conditioning and explosiveness \u2014 and doesn\u2019t anticipate his thumb recovery will hinder that.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll say that just because you\u2019re hurt doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s, you know, trying to feel sorry for yourself \u2026 When I hurt my wrist, I was just doing left-hand dribbling, left-hand layups, left-hand dunks. Everything, just left hand. So like, in my head I\u2019m getting better. Even though I can\u2019t use my right hand, I\u2019m still getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n There is another big question that faces Sharpe this summer, though, and he predictably did not say much about that on Friday: \u201cWhatever the team has in plan for me, that\u2019s what they got.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, the Nets have a $6 million team option on Sharpe\u2019s contract, but given his recent success, it seems plausible that the team could decline that option and instead ink Sharpe to a long-term extension. Over the past three seasons, the team has been nearly nine points per 100 possessions better with their backup big on the court.<\/p>\n Said Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez: \u201cFor the two years that I\u2019ve worked with him, I\u2019m very, very happy. Not just the work ethic and the production, but also the type of person that we have in the locker room. He\u2019s \u2014 I know you guys know this \u2014 but he\u2019s got a big personality. He fills the room. Everybody loves him, and that\u2019s important for a group, you know, that energy. And he cares and he wants to compete, he wants to get better, and I think the sky\u2019s the limit for him right now.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s tough to disagree, considering the remarkable improvements the man they call Day\u2019Day has made over the years. Recall Media Day 2023, just before his third NBA season, where former head coach Jacque Vaughn announced he would play Sharpe in the regular rotation, which was no small leap of faith.<\/p>\n Three seasons later, there are still remain questions about his true defensive impact: Opponents have shot much worse from three with him on the court over the last three years, possibly artificially inflating his on\/offs. When Sharpe checks in for Claxton, the Nets give up more points at the rim.<\/p>\n And yet, they consistently win the possession game with Sharpe on the court. He hustles, he scraps, he rebounds, and he steals the rock\u2026<\/p>\n It\u2019s tough to overstate Sharpe\u2019s development. Now a fairly mobile big, he can switch onto ball-handlers, or hedge\/trap and recover, playing the aggressive pick-and-roll coverages Fern\u00e1ndez frequents, not to mention his improved positioning in drop coverage.<\/p>\n Similarly, Sharpe\u2019s ideal role on offense is not so clear-cut. While his finishing has improved, he is not quite a typical rim-runner, lacking a bit of the explosion and reach a great lob threat possesses. He has also thrown some nice passes out of the short-roll in his career, and this season, he got to operate as a hub from the top of the key\u2026<\/p>\n Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez probably wants some improvement on Sharpe\u2019s 1.37 assist:turnover ratio in this role, but if his big man continues to finish this well and be one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA, there\u2019s not much to complain about.<\/p>\n Or, as Fern\u00e1ndez put it: \u201cI\u2019m not really worried, because if he continues with his strength, everything is going to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Day\u2019Ron Sharpe spoke to the media for the first time since tearing an ulnar collateral ligament in his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,6,671,39762,2168],"class_list":{"0":"post-697635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nets","14":"tag-nets-features","15":"tag-nets-analysis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116346329859235007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}